How to tell if it's for a career change.

Are you bored by your job? Do you find yourself looking at your watch every ten minutes, eagerly awaiting the arrival of 5 o'clock?

Do you ever feel that you're wasting your life, or that you'd rather be doing something else?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you're not alone. Most people reach a point where they are unfulfilled by their work. But they may not know why they're unhappy or what they can do about it. If this describes you, you may be suffering from job burnout.

Job burnout is a steady, increasing dissatisfaction with your job. It can range from mild boredom to a lack of interest in one's work to severe depression and physical illness.

One business expert claims that 90 percent of Americans hate their jobs. The figure is probably lower among professionals, but a great many people I've met have admitted that they're less than thrilled with their daily routine.

Everyone has their ups and downs, and just because you have a rotten day now and then doesn't mean you should rush to see a career counselor or resign in a huff. People suffering from job burnout, however, are unhappy almost all the time.

You can't always tell when job burnout strikes: in many instances, people who feel unhappy or depressed are not able to pinpoint the reason. But job burnout victims often share common feelings and frames of mind. The following checklist will help you determine if you're a victim of job burnout.

A Checklist of Symptoms:

Boredom

Every now and then we have a day when we feel we'd rather be strolling in the park than stuck in the office. That's only natural. But people experiencing job burnout are bored almost all the time. They are turned off by their assignments and have little enthusiasm for the job.

Overworked

Do you work too hard? Do you feel pressured by time, by deadlines? Do you say things like, "I wish there were 26 hours in a day"? If so, watch out! Overworked people are likely to suffer fatigue and stress that can eventually lead to job burnout.

Underworked

Surprisingly, being underworked is even more likely to lead to burnout than being overworked. The fact is, most people want to work and feel as if they're contributing something to the company. If you don't allow employees to work at their full potential, they'll feel unproductive and unsatisfied.

Stress

Stress causes different symptoms in different people: nervousness, fatigue, insomnia, heartburn, headaches, stomach aches, constipation. And job burnout is a stressful situation: it's no fun having to wake up each morning to go to a job you despise. So, if you feel stress and are exhibiting its symptoms, job burnout could be a possible cause.

Time consciousness

Do you find yourself glancing at your watch more than four times an hour? Did you ever think that an hour had gone by, but when you looked at your watch, it had only been five minutes? Does the second hand on the office clock seem to move too slowly these days?

Job burnout victims are extremely time conscious: they use the progression of time to help get them through the day. And, they find that time on the job passes much more slowly than time at home. People who enjoy their work, on the other hand, find that the business day passes quickly.

Difficulty concentrating

When you enjoy what you're doing, it's easy to tackle the work with enthusiasm and vigor. But job burnout victims have a hard time applying themselves to their work because they find it boring and unfulfilling. If you find yourself staring at the same piece of paper for hours ... or reading the same paragraph over and over ... or you constantly feel drained and drowsy during the day ... you may be a prime candidate for burnout.

Low self-esteem

According to the American work ethic, you are what you do. So if you don't think much of what you do, you won't think much of yourself.

Job burnout victims can get caught in a vicious cycle of self-degradation. Because they're dissatisfied with their job, they think work is a waste of time. And then they feel worthless because they think they're failures in their careers. Finally, other people have an uncanny knack for sensing when we're feeling low, and some of these people will kick you when you're down. They'll take advantage of you when you're at your weakest, and you'll resent yourself for it even more.

Withdrawn

As self-esteem sinks lower and lower, the burnout victim becomes overly introverted and withdrawn. He doesn't socialize or communicate with co-workers because of his work-inflicted inferiority complex. He looks at co-workers who are seemingly satisfied with their jobs and says to himself, "These people are doing okay. So it must be me--not the company or the job."

Kristin Wellsley is a free-lance writer and career advice specialist.